Three Oklahoma players — infielder Garrett Buechele, catcher Tyler Ogle and starting pitcher Michael Rocha — were named to the All-Big 12 first team Tuesday. Oklahoma State had one, designated hitter Dane Phillips, and Zach Johnson was named the conference’s newcomer of the year. Texas A&M’s Tyler Naquin was named the league’s player of the year, while Texas’ Taylor Jungmann is the pitcher of the year.
Longhorns third baseman Erich Weiss is the freshman of the year and Texas coach Augie Garrido and Texas A&M coach Rob Childress are co-coaches of the year. The Cowboys had three players on the second team — Johnson, catcher Jared Womack and utility player Gabe Weidenaar. Sooners Cameron Seitzer (infielder) and Casey Johnson (outfielder) are on the second team. Texas Tech’s Kelby Tomlinson, of Elgin, also made the second team.
FUTURE FORMAT UP IN THE AIR: With one less team in the league for baseball next year, the format for the Big 12 Baseball Tournament could be further tweaked in the offseason. “We’ll take a look at things and see if there’s a bracket that would allow us to have all nine teams to play in the tournament,” Big 12 Associate Commissioner Bob Burda said Tuesday. Nebraska is leaving for the Big Ten Conference following this season. In the current eight-team format, just one team would stay home. The Cornhuskers and Kansas are not in this year’s tournament. Iowa State and Colorado do not play baseball. After five years of pool play, this year’s event features two double-elimination brackets, with the winner of each bracket set to meet in Sunday’s title game.
VON SCHAMANN HELPS TECH TO TOURNEY: Texas Tech needed to capture a series victory over Oklahoma State last weekend to keep its NCAA regional hopes alive — and the Red Raiders did it, thanks to the efforts of former Edmond Santa Fe standout Duke von Schamann.
The right-handed freshman, and son of former OU placekicker Uwe von Schamann, pitched a career-high seven innings to lead Tech to a 5-3 over the Cowboys on Sunday in the decisive third game of the series.
He allowed just one earned run and five hits while striking out three and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Von Schamann enters the Big 12 Tournament with a 5-0 record.
HILL GETS SOME HELP: Kansas State coach Brad Hill was looking for a way to motivate his team earlier this season. “I couldn’t decide how to do it,” Hill said. Juggling whether to go for a tougher approach or treat them softly, Hill finally settled on a solution. “I decided to scare them,” Hill said. “So I brought in coach (Frank) Martin.”The Wildcats men’s basketball coach, known for his intensity, didn’t need much time to do the trick. “It took about two minutes to scare them,” Hill said. Hill’s Wildcats are the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
MIZZOU’S COACH PLEADS HIS CASE: Missouri coach Tim Jamieson asked for some mercy from the conference’s other coaches at Tuesday’s media luncheon in Bricktown. “I truly believe there’s only one team here that has to win the tournament to get into a regional,” Jamieson said. “And that’s us.”“So Steve, Augie and Frank, keep that in mind this week.”Jamieson was addressing Baylor’s Steve Smith, Texas’ Augie Garrido and OSU’s Frank Anderson, the three coaches whose teams are in Missouri’s bracket.